Alone Together: The Best of the Mercury Years

Alone Together: The Best of the Mercury Years is a compilation album featuring recordings by trumpeter Clifford Brown and drummer Max Roach in groups together and separately which were originally released on Mercury and subsidiary labels.[1]

Alone Together: The Best of the Mercury Years
Compilation album by
ReleasedJanuary 24, 1995
RecordedAugust 3, 1954 – October 1960
GenreJazz
Length148:45
LabelVerve
526373-2
ProducerBob Shad

Reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic     [2]
Penguin Guide to Jazz    [3]

Allmusic's John Bush noted "Verve's two-disc collection of the best recordings from the Clifford Brown-Max Roach Quintet recorded for Mercury/Emarcy between 1954 and 1956 includes a parade of Brown-Roach classics ...The second disc, which doesn't include Brown at all, reels through a highlight film of Max Roach's varied quintets of the late '50s after the death of Brown in 1956. Of course, Roach's sessions during that time feature many great recordings – trumpeter Booker Little is a competent replacement for Brown, and tenors Sonny Rollins, Hank Mobley, and Stanley Turrentine all have great spots – but record buyers expecting this set to live up to its title might be disappointed".[2] The Penguin Guide to Jazz selected this album as part of its suggested Core Collection.[3][4]

Track listing

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Disc one

  1. "Cherokee" (Ray Noble) – 5:43
  2. "Joy Spring" (Clifford Brown) – 6:51
  3. "What's New?" (Bob Haggart, Johnny Burke) – 3:25
  4. "Mildama" (Max Roach) – 4:32
  5. "September Song" (Kurt Weill, Maxwell Anderson) – 5:46
  6. "What Am I Here For?" (Duke Ellington, Frankie Laine) – 3:09
  7. "Sandu" (Brown) – 4:55
  8. "Daahoud" (Brown) – 4:02
  9. "Born to Be Blue" (Robert Wells, Mel Tormé) – 5:15
  10. "Jordu" (Duke Jordan) – 7:46
  11. "Gertrude's Bounce" (Richie Powell) – 4:10
  12. "Stardust" (Hoagy Carmichael, Mitchell Parish) – 3:24
  13. "Parisian Thoroughfare" (Bud Powell) – 7:19
  14. "Blues Walk" (Brown) – 6:46

Disc two

  1. "Dr. Free-Zee" (Roach) – 2:07
  2. "Just One of Those Things" (Cole Porter) – 7:21
  3. "Valse Hot" (Sonny Rollins) – 14:28
  4. "Tune-Up" (Eddie Vinson) – 7:46
  5. "Yardbird Suite" (Charlie Parker) – 3:54
  6. "A Night in Tunisia" (Dizzy Gillespie, Frank Paparelli) – 8:15
  7. "La Villa" (Kenny Dorham) – 6:17
  8. "Max's Variations" (Harold Farberman) – 2:20
  9. "Prelude" (Consuela Lee) – 5:08
  10. "Juliano" (Julian Priester) – 5:43
  11. "Lotus Blossom" (Arthur Johnston, Sam Coslow) – 5:34
  12. "The Left Bank" (Brown) – 3:17
  13. "Never Leave Me" (Gordon Jenkins) – 6:49

Personnel

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References

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  1. ^ Max Roach Discography: Session Index accessed May 18, 2016
  2. ^ a b Bush, John. Alone Together: The Best of the Mercury Years – Review at AllMusic. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
  3. ^ a b Cook, Richard; Brian Morton (2008) [1992]. "Max Roach". The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings. The Penguin Guide to Jazz (9th ed.). New York: Penguin. p. 1219. ISBN 978-0-14-103401-0.
  4. ^ Penguin Guide to Jazz: Core Collection List, accessed May 18, 2016